Means for raising sunken vessels.



PATENTED SE-PT. 1 7, 1907.

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MEANS FDRRAISING SUNKBN VES urmu'rron rum) MAR. 22, 1907.

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MEANS FOR RAISING S-UNKBN VBSSELS.

APPLIOATIOH I'ILEDILB. 22,.1907.

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PATENTED SEPT. 17, 1907.

v G. & 0. s. PEA-RON. MEANS FOR RAISING'SUNKEN VESSELS.'

APPLICATION TILED MAR. 22, 1907.

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1n: mmms PETERS c GEORGE FEARON AND CHRISTOPHER STEPHENSON FEARON, OF NEWGASTLE-UPON-TYNE,

ENGLAND.

' MEANS FOR RAISING- SUNKEN VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 1907.

Application filed March 22,1907. Serial No. 363.803-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE FEARON and CHRIS- TOPHER STEPHENsON FEARON, subjects of the King of Great Britain, and residing at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the county of Northumberland, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Raising Sunken Vessels, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the raising of sun-ken ships and other objects and it involves a new process for accomplishing this result as well as the apparatus employed in connection therewith.

In the practice of our invention as shown in the drawing, we place around the sides of the hull of a sunken ship fore and aft ropes or cables and around and beneath the hull transversely thereof lifting ropes or cables which are connected with the fore and aft ropes or cables, and with these fore and aft and transverse lifting ropes or cables we connect air vessels which are afterwards inflated and by means of which the sunken ship is raised.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of our improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which;

Figure 1 is a side view of a ship fitted up with our apparatus;.Fig. 2 an end view with the air vessels connected with the sides of the hull; Fig. 3 a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the air vessels connected with the sides and bottom of-the hull; Fig. 4 a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing two sets of air vessels connected with the sides of the hull; Fig. 5 a view similar to Fig. 3, but sliowing two sets of air vessels connected with the sides and bottom of the hull; Fig. 6 a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing only a part of the hull and showing the method of connecting the fore and aft ropes or cables with the bow of the vessel and showing also the means for connecting the fore and aft ropes or cables and the transverse lifting ropes or cables; Fig. 7 a view on an enlarged scale showing a detail of the construction shown in Fig. 6 by which the fore and aft ropes or cables are connected with the transverse lifting ropes or cables; Fig. 8 a section-of the construction shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 a plan view of a bow or stem clamp used in connecting the fore and aft ropes or cables with the bow of the vessel; Fig. 10 a side view of the device shown in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 a detail view showing the method of connecting the lifting ropes or cables with a bilge keel on the hull of the vessel; Fig. 12 a side view of one of the air vessels which we employ and showing the method of connecting the same with the fore and aft ropes or cables; Fig. 13 a view at right angles to Fig.

12; Fig. 14 a detail view of the bilge keel shown in Fig. 11 and showing an outrigger connected therewith to facilitate the connection of two sets of air vessels with the hull of the ship; Fig. 15 a side elevation of the outrigger shown in Fig. 14; and, Fig. 16 a plan view of said outrigger.

In the drawing forming part of this specification, reference being made to Figs. 1 and 6, we have shown at a: the hull of a ship, and in the practice of our invention, we provide a number of air vessels a which may be composed of any preferred material and which are preferably oblong and substantially rectangular in form and which are provided with strengthening strips a and connected with said strips (1 at the bottom of the air vessels are rings 'n, with which are connected shackles o as clearly shown in Figs. 12 and 13, and connected with the tops of said air vessels are inflated tubes 12 which are carried up over the hull and onto the deck of the ship and through which said vessels may be inflated in any desired manner.

In order to connect the air vessels with the hull of a ship, we pass around and beneath the hull, transverse lifting ropes or cables b which are arranged at regular intervals and connected therewith by means of rings d and shackles e are fore and aft ropes or cables c. The transverse lifting ropes or cables b may be passed entirely around the hull, or if the ship is provided with bilge keels m, they may be connected with the bilge keels only by means of a hook 7c and shackle j as shown in Fig. 1]. By means of this construction a plurality of rows of air vessels may be secured to the opposite sides of the hull of a ship as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and, if this is not sufficient to raise a ship or vessel, the said air vessels may also be secured to the bottom of the hull longitudinally thereof as shown in Fig. 3, it being understood that in this operation the fore and aft ropes or cables 0 and transverse lifting ropes or cables I) are employed; or double sets of air vessels may be applied to the sides of the hull as shown in Fig. 4, or double sets applied both to the sides and bottom of the hull as shown in Fig. 5. It will be understood that the fore and aft ropes or cables c and transverse lifting ropes or cables 1) form a network around the sides of the hull, or around the sides of the hull and beneath the same with which the air vessels a are connected.

In employing double sets of air vessels on the sides of the hull as shown in Fig. 4, or double sets of air ves sels on the sides and bottom of the hull as shown in Fig. 5, outriggersf are secured to the bilge keels m as shown in Fig. 14 and as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5, and the transverse lifting ropes or cables b are connected with said outriggers only as shown in Fig. 4, or may be connected therewith and extended beneath the hull as shown in Fig. 5, if desired, it being understood that the Outriggers b are employed only when a double layer of air vessels either on the sides of the hull or on the sides and bottom thereof is necessary. If the vessel is tilted, in its sunken position, the fore and aft and lifting ropes or cables may be applied to the bilge keel at one side of the hull and the air vessels a connected therewith, and in this way by the inflation of said air vessels, the

hull may be righted after which the air vessels may be applied to both sides of the hull and the bottom thereof, or the air vessels may be applied to any of the upper part of the hull and inflated so as to partially raise the vessel or support it in an upright position, after which the fore and aft and transverse lifting ropes or cables may be applied to the 'hull and air vessels secured thereto, as hereinbeiore described, which when inflated will raise the vessel. It will be understood, of course, that the lifting ropes or cables may be connected with a center bottom keel by the same means employed for connecting said ropes or cables with a bilge keel as shown in Fig. 11, or said lifting ropes or cables may be passed entirely beneath the hull as hereinbefore described.

In Figs. 9 and 10, I have shown a bow or stem clamp h used in connecting the fore and aft ropes or cables with the bow or stem of the vessel, and said bow or stem clamp consists of a U-shaped member h having outwardly directed arms k provided with ring or eye members h which are connected therewith by turn buckles b and the yoke-shaped member 72, is provided with a set screw h.

The air vessels a may be made of any desired dimensions, but we prefer that they should contain from fiity to sixty cubic feet of air, and, in practice, the air vessels are inflated through the tubes p by means of an air compressor with a capacity of from fifty to sixty cubic feet per minute, but it will be understood that these capacities may be varied to any desired extent.

In practice, the first layer or set of air vessels above the bilge keel are inflated, when more than one set or layer are'necessary, and this forms a platform for the diver or operator to operate upon in attaching the next line or layer of air vessels to the ship or vessel. The air vessels are preferably composed of any suitable flexible material and may be reinforced in any desired manner, and while we have shown no means for attaching the fore and aft ropes or cables to the stern of the vessel any suitable means may be provided for this purpose if desired, butthe transverse lifting ropes or cables will probably be found sufiicient for this purpose.

Although, we have shown and described our improvement as applied for the purpose of raising sunken ships or vessels, it will be apparent that the same may be applied for raising other objects; and various changes in and modifications of the means herein described for connecting the air vessels or containers with the hull of a sunken ship, or vessel, or other object may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention or sacrificing its advantages.

The fore and aft lifting ropes or cables and transverse lifting ropes or cables are made of wire or any other suitable material and the transverse lifting ropes or cables may be connected with the top of the hull of avessel in any desired manner.

Although, we have only shown means for connecting the air vessels with the fore and aft cables 0, it will be understood that said air vessels may also be connected with the transverse lifting cables I), if desired.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. The herein described means for raising a sunken ship or vessel which consists in a network of fore and aft cables adapted to'be arranged longitudinally of the hull and transverse cables placed transversely of and beneath the hull, said fore and aft and transverse cables being connected by rings and shackles, air vessels adapted to be secured to the network of cables and provided at the bottom thereof with rings and shackles whereby they may be connected with the fore and aft cables, and bow or stem clamps adapted to engage the bow of the vessel and with which the fore and aft cables are adapted to be connected, said bow or stem clamps being provided with side arms composed of separate members connected by turn-buckles.

2. The herein described means for raising a sunken ship or vessel which consists in a network of fore and aft cables adapted to be arranged longitudinally of the hull and transverse cables placed transversely of and beneath the hull, said fore and aft and transverse cables being connected by rings and shackles, air vessels adapted to be secured to the network of cables and provided at the bottom thereof with rings and shackles whereby they may be connected with the fore and aft cables, bow or stem clamps adapted to engage the bow of the vessel and with which the fore and aft cables are adapted to be connected, said how or stem clamps being provided with side armscoinposed of separate members connected by turn-buckles, and means for connecting the transverse cables with the bilge keels of the vessel.

3, The herein described means for raising a sunken ship or vessel which consists in a network of fore and aft cables adapted to be arranged longitudinally of the hull and transverse cables placed transversely of and beneath the hull, said fore and aft and transverse cables being connected by rings and shackles, air vessels adapted to be secured to the network of cables and provided at the bottom thereof with rings and shackles whereby they may be connected with the fore and aft cables, bow or stem clamps adapted to engage the bow of the vessel and with which the fore and aft cables are adapted to be connected, said how or stem clamps being provided with side arms composed of separate members connected by turnbuckles, and means for connecting the transverse cables with the bilge keels of the vessel, consisting of hooks adapted to engage the bilge keels and shackles connected with said cables and adapted to engage said hooks.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have signed our names in presence of the subscribing witnesses this twelfth day of March 1907.

GEORGE FEARON. CHRISTOPHER STEPHENSON FEARON.

Witnesses FRED BERNARD, WILLIAM HUDSON Nixon. 

